


Monsters Under the Bed

by yehwellwhatever



Series: 100_prompts [6]
Category: The Anthemic
Genre: Established Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-29
Updated: 2012-08-29
Packaged: 2017-11-13 03:22:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/498896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yehwellwhatever/pseuds/yehwellwhatever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal will never let Dave babysit again, ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monsters Under the Bed

Neal has barely closed his eyes when there’s a shrill scream from one of the bedrooms down the hall. Sighing, Neal runs a hand throough his hair and gets out of bed. When he opens the door it’s not hard to locate the sound. As seconds passes, the sound intensifies, and when he reaches Grace’s bedroom, Neal finds his daughter standing up in bed, tears streaming down her face and cheeks red from screaming.

Seeing his daughter so distraught tugs at Neal’s heart and he nearly runs across the room to scoop Grace up in his arms. Rocking from side to side, Neal talks quietly into her hair, trying to get her to calm down. “There, there,” he says. “Want to tell daddy what got you so upset?”

Grace tilts her small body back from Neal’s. Tears are still running down her face and her big, brown eyes wider than usual. “Monster,” she says, the word somewhat muffled around the thumb in her mouth.

Neal bites back a groan. Andy is much better at this, of course it would happen the one night he’s not there to handle it. “A monster? Where?” he asks, trying to sound as supportive and interested as possible.

Grace uses the hand she had curled into Neal’s t-shirt to point behind Neal. “The closet?” he says, feeling Grace nod into his chest, her hand curling into Neal’s t-shirt again. “What does the monster look like?”

Grace’s words comes out in a jumbled mess, impossible to make out. “Gracie, baby,” he says, putting a hand around her wrist and pulling slightly. “If you want me to help you with this monster, you need to take the thumb out of your mouth.”

“It’s big,” she says, her brown eyes wide. “And green.”

“Big and green, huh?” He is going to maim Dave for this the next time he sees him. Who the hell lets a five year old girl watch the Hulk? Even if it was just a cartoon.

Grace nods. “Get it out, Daddy? Please?” She rubs the back of her left hand across her cheek, smearing out the trace of tears.

“Sure baby girl,” Neal says, voice soft while he strokes a hand over her silky soft hair. “Let’s get you into bed again, okay?” Once Grace is back in bed, she pulls the covers up to cover half of her face, big eyes still visible. After leaning down to kiss her forehead, Neal takes a deep breath and stands up.

In a few short strides he reaches the row of closets. “Is it this one?” he asks, stopping in front of the one to the far left. He hears a barely above whisper “no” coming from the bed. They keep going like that until he reaches the closet in the right corner. Looking over his shoulder to the bed, he sees that his daughter is now fully hidden underneath the covers.

“I’m opening the closet now, Gracie,” he says, doing so as loudly as possible. As he already knew, there is nothing in the closet except for rows and rows of dresses and shoes. Andy and he might just have the most spoiled daughter in the county. He leaves the closet door open as he walks back to Grace, sitting down on the side of the bed. “There’s nothing there, baby girl.”

There’s no reaction for a while, so Neal pulls the covers back slightly. Grace looks up at him, thumb back in her mouth and eyes still just as wide. “No monster?” she asks, words muffled. They really have to get her out of the habit of talking with things in her mouth.

Neal shakes his head. “No.” Pulling the covers further back he picks Grace up and settles her on his hip as he stands up again. “Come take a look.” He feels Grace tense up in his arms as they near the closet. “See,” he says as they stand in front of the closet. “There’s nothing there.” He even pulls the clothes to the side, showing her the back of the closet. “Now, do you think you can go back to sleep?”

Grace shakes her head and hides her face in the crook of Neal’s neck. “Your bed?” she asks, voice small. Andy and he has an agreement that Grace should always sleep in her own bed, but she sounds so broken and Andy isn’t even here to find out.

“Sure,” Neal finds himself saying, a little embarrassed of how fast he gives in. “Let’s go to bed.” Shutting the closet door, Neal turns off the light and sets Grace down on the floor. Immediately, Grace places her tiny hand in Neal’s. Looking down at her, Neal is surprised to see her actually smile.

Once they’re settled in bed, it doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes before Neal can feel Grace’s small frame go limp with sleep. Confident that his daughter is actually sleeping, Neal closes his eyes and follows her into sleep.

It’s still dark when Neal wakes up by the feel of a body pressing up behind him. “I thought we had a deal.” Andy’s voice sounds unnaturally loud in the otherwise silent room. Twisting around carefully, so that he doesn’t wake Grace, Neal opens his eyes and looks at his husband.

“We’re never letting Dave babysit her again,” Neal says, voice rough with sleep. “Ever.”

Andy arches an eyebrow. “Why not? What did he do?” He settles down on pillow, pulling Neal closer to him with his right arm.

“I have no evidence, but I’m pretty sure he let her watch the Hulk,” he says. “She had a nightmare that there was a big green monster in her closet. She wouldn’t stop crying, so I let her stay here.”

Andy huffs. “Of course he did.” He kisses Neal softly before he pulls back and smiles at him tiredly.

“What are you doing home already, anyway?” Neal asks. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, believe me, I am, but you weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.”

“Caught an earlier flight,” Andy says, voice soft. “I missed you guys.”

“Missed you, Dad,” Grace says from behind Neal, startling the both of them. “Hug?” Without waiting for Andy to say anything, she climbs over Neal, narrowly avoiding to step on him before falling down on the bed between them and curling up to Andy’s side.

Hugging Grace close for a few moments, Andy shuffles around to make them more comfortable before his right arm settles on Neal’s hip. “Good night, Neal. Good night, Gracie.” The motion of Andy’s thumb stroking back and forward over his hip soothes Neal to sleep. Hopefully there will be no more dreams about green monsters for a while, and if there is, he hopes that Andy will be there to handle it with him.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 100_prompts challenge @ LJ, for the prompt _#46 – Monster_.


End file.
